Merrymen

Merrymen is the busy local cafe at 2 Small Street, tucked just behind the Hampton Street strip and a short stroll from the beach in Bayside, Melbourne. It is one of the friendlier rooms on the peninsula for dogs: the covered outdoor seating explicitly welcomes them, and it sits close enough to the sand to make sense as the end point of a morning coastal walk.

The dog setup

Dogs are allowed to settle in beside your table in the relaxed, undercover outdoor area, which takes the weather risk out of a Bayside breakfast. Staff are good with dogs and water bowls are usually about, though carrying your own is never wasted on a hot day. Weekend mornings are the busy stretch, so expect a short wait for an outdoor table after about nine.

The vibe and the menu

The coffee has a strong following, the milkshakes are a thing of their own, and the kitchen covers breakfast and brunch with chilli eggs, the honey chicken burger and an okonomiyaki among the dishes people keep ordering, plus health-conscious and vegetarian options. Doors open 6:30am daily with the kitchen winding up around 3pm, and the room runs seven days. Undercover matters in Bayside, where a morning that starts clear can turn by ten.

Getting there and parking

Small Street runs off Hampton Street near Hampton Station, and free street parking is generally findable in the surrounding streets, though the strip itself tightens on weekends. For another outdoor table with the dog, The Snappy Grump and the dog-menu Whistling Kettle Cafe both sit on Hampton Street, and the fenced R J Sillitoe Reserve is close by for an off-lead run first.

The Hampton destination page and VIC cafes index cover the rest of the area.